A Victory for Common Sense

[Moscow Mule]

CPS can't do much since he apparently did not commit any crimes here, so he'll effectively walk now.

When did he do his doings? Was it before 1990?

If it was after, surely the mis-use of Computers act would apply (un-authorised access as a minimum)?

[Mich the Tester]

Interesting to see just how bitter some of the posters are on this board - I pity you all.

He does seem to have been judged before he's been tried and I get the impression that his greatest 'crime' is embarassing the septics.

[AtW]

If it was after, surely the mis-use of Computers act would apply (un-authorised access as a minimum)?

It was after.

However it appears that he did not mess about with British computers - no misuse here it seems, or can't be proven since UK is a bit soft on crimes like this.

The Americans got him, they have evidence that he would not dispute - he is a criminal, it's just the question what punishment he should get, something courts were created for.

[VectraMan]

How can you try him here if he did not gain unauthorized access to UK based systems? Or more likely it can't be proven whether he did, but in any case you can't really try him here.

If you kill an American tourist in Britain, you'd expect to be prosecuted in Britain not the US.

Juristiction should be where the crime was committed, which in this case was Britain. That nationality of the "victim" shouldn't matter.

If the US feel they're under attack from UK hackers and we aren't doing enough to stop it, then they should put pressure on the UK government to tighten up its laws, not abuse extradition laws to prosecute UK criminal themselves.

[Not So Wise]

I can't see any common sense here - self-confessed (publicly) criminal is not only getting away with his crime but also costing UK taxpayers millions in the process.

Government cost the tax payers millions not the "criminal". The treaty was put into place to deal with terrorists (one way though, US can demand UK citizens be extradited, but UK cannot demand the reverse, so whole thing should be tossed otu just for that alone), this guy was not a terrorist so the UK should have told the US take a hike from the get go.

I think next time we want a crimal back we need to string up we are gonna have to whistle.

You would be whistling anyway as the treaty is not two way and doubt it would ever be two way as the US has protections built into it's constitution that make it pretty much impossible to extradite a US citizen (basically a catch 22 situation, they would have to be tried and found guilty in the US first, but if the crime was not committed there their courts would refuse to hear the case). This is main reason so many ex IRA are still sitting safe in the US

The Americans got him, they have evidence that he would not dispute - he is a criminal, it's just the question what punishment he should get, something courts were created for.

He is a criminal under US law, no doubt, but he is was not in the US when he commited the "crime" nor is he now, so those US laws don't and should not apply.
Like what next? Put us under the authority of random Arabic/Muslim countries law's? How many sharia laws you broke this week? Maybe we should be extraditing the next cartoonist who put's Muhammad and a pig in the same cartoon to Saudi to be beheaded because according to their law's they are also clear cut "criminals"

[BlackenedBiker]

Not to mention prolonging his misery and uncertainty still further.

I might prolong if I was facing 60 years stir

[Mich the Tester]

If the US feel they're under attack from UK hackers and we aren't doing enough to stop it, then they should ...

…stop annoying the hell out of the whole bloody world and then people might leave them alone for a while.

[AlfredJPruffock]

For those who have labeled MckInnon a crimnal (what pecuniary advantage did he profit from and what damage did he actually do apart from showing that NASAs IT dept was pretty sloppy with its security policy)'.

How then do you explain the fact that hackers from China have acquired much information from the US government/industry and penetrated US financial institutions - yet the US has chosen not to persue such Chinese hackers .

I suspect McKinnon was at most an embaressment to certain US authotities and being a Brit a 'soft target' under the current unfair Extradition Treaty (to be revised by the Conservatives) - it strikes me the whole episode is rather shameful.

[AtW]

Juristiction should be where the crime was committed, which in this case was Britain. That nationality of the "victim" shouldn't matter.

Indeed. In this case crime was committed on US soil - while physically he was here, there is established practice regarding this sort of cases that crime was committed there, hence there is case to answer in USA.

[BlackenedBiker]

…stop annoying the hell out of the whole bloody world and then people might leave them alone for a while.

Funnily enough the septics are all for splendid isolation and a laissez faire position until they start running out of black gold, then they are advocates of regieme change.

"We need to invade other countries to protect our own (WASPS) standards of living and screw the natives, it is their fault for living on our oil"